Photos & Highlights from the Downtown LA Urban Hike

The downtown LA skyline

The August Urban Hike criss-crossing downtown LA was my funnest one yet; it was one of my shorter ones (about 6-7 miles) but practically every block had plenty visual appeal, here's some of the amazing stuff I saw during my half-day hike.

Historic buildings such as the Alexandria Hotel and Orpheum Theater

Angels Knoll park (where I found out via tweets is where "500 Days of Summer" filmed) and the recently restored Angels Flight railway (next time I'm gonna pony up that 50-cent to get that souvenir two-ride ticket)

Strolling by the artsy performance centers of the Bunker Hill district, such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall

Windowshopping the stalls and stores of Olvera Street, which happened to be the site of a street carnival that weekend.

All sorts of fun and eclectic sculptures and murals that are sprinkled throughout the area.

The Grand-Hope Park, a little, well-manicured and nicely decorated oasis of green in the urban hustle and bustle.

Checking out the recently developed LA Live complex (though I didn't stay too long.)

My only sore sight for the day, an Ed Hardy store in downtown - ugh! As if that entire block on Melrose isn't vomit-inducing enough.

As always, the other half of the fun is discovering the eats & drinks of the neighborhood, which I'll post about on my other blog, but here's a preview with the delicious grilled cheese from Corkbar.

More photos on my flickr set here, and as for this month's Urban Hike . . .

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. . . I plan to soak up the last of the sunny, warmer days in true Southern California style, with a 8-mile loop along the beaches of South Bay (Redondo, Hermosa & Manhattan -- which I shortened to "Red Herman") The planned route is below, and I plan on starting around 8 a.m. on September 26. Hope to see you there!